I booked a balcony room on deck 6 of the Explorer of the Seas, which is directly above the main dining area. Is noise going to be an issue? Should I ask for a room on deck 7 instead? My cruise isn't until March 2011 so I'm sure it shouldn't be a problem. Also, my parents will be booking a promenade room. Is noise from the promenade an issue with these rooms at all? Thanks to anyone who can advise me.

Though any cabin, as long as its on a ship, is a good thing, the general rule to avoid problems is to avoid cabins either directly above or below any public rooms.

I've never had a Promenade cabin, but I have never heard of noise complaints regarding them. The only issues I've seen commented on are the need to remember to keep the curtains closed when you've booked one of the rooms.

I booked a balcony room on deck 6 of the Explorer of the Seas, which is directly above the main dining area. Is noise going to be an issue? Should I ask for a room on deck 7 instead? My cruise isn't until March 2011 so I'm sure it shouldn't be a problem. Also, my parents will be booking a promenade room. Is noise from the promenade an issue with these rooms at all? Thanks to anyone who can advise me.

The promenade rooms have sound proof glass, so they shouldn't hear anything.

I had a deck 6 balcony room on the Adventure OTS 2 years ago, which is a sister ship to the Explorer OTS. We never heard anything from the dining room.

I would actually recommend You to change to deck 7 or above. Not due to noise but due to view. The balconys on deck 6 have less glass than on deck 7 (the covered part of the railing is higher on deck 6). See picture on this link from sister ship Voyager of the Seas: http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/m...obalkong02.jpg
It might not look like a big difference but of pictures I have seen from cabins on deck 6 it actually is quite a difference.

My last two cruises I have been on Deck ten on Voyager and Deck 9 on Spendour; my cabin was below pool; never heard noise; when I sat on balcony during the day you may hear faint noise; when balcony door was shut and locked it was quiet. No problems.

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Freedom of the Seas Dec 11
Allure of the Seas: Jan 11
Voyager of the Seas: May 09
Splendour of the Seas: May 07
Explorer of the Seas: Jan 04
Majesty of the Seas Jan 99

I'd agree with moving to deck 7 for balcony purposes. As for your parents in promenade cabins, I would recommend they save the money and move to an inside cabin or outside window cabin. The promenade cabins are silly, you pay a premium to have a bay window for which the person directly across the promenade can see straight into your cabin. 95% of the people who get these cabins keep their shades drawn the entire cruise as they don't want people across the hall looking in on them as well as the people looking up from the royal promenade. So I ask, what's the purpose of getting these cabins if your going to keep your shades drawn the entire time, it's basically an inside statement at that point?

Interesting comments about the promenade cabins. I have also noticed that the shades are drawn most of the time on Voyager, like this:

It's a big difference when sailing with the Silja Line ferries between Sweden and Finland as there are hardly no shades drawn on the promenade cabins for most of the time (except maybe when changing clothes or later at night when it gets darker outside) which can be seen here: